Daughter of a parttime Autobot
by Not always a Bookworm
Summary: I'm Lila Sumdac. I'm not your ordinary girl. For starters, my father is actually a big huge yellow decepticon-fighting robot, but he has this chain that turns him into a human. And his name is Bumblebee. It's not exactly a name you come across everyday.
1. Chapter 1

Yes, here it is! Lila's story! Please let me know what you think!

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Hi. I'm Lila Sumdac. I'm not your ordinary girl. For starters, my father is actually a big huge yellow decepticon-fighting robot, but he has this chain that turns him into a human. And his name is Bumblebee. It's not exactly a name you come across everyday.

My mom, Sari, has been human all her life. Well, except for those rare times when _she _puts on the chain and turns into a femme, a female robot. _I've _yet to put on the chain to see what _I'd _be like, because my mom doesn't want me to. It's kinda strange because apparently she was really outgoing and daring when she was my age (which is 8), according to my dad.

Another reason I'm not your ordinary girl is because my whole house is a huge factory thats inhibited by _more_ huge decepticon-fighting robots that call themselves autobots. There's Optimus Prime, the leader, Prowl, the independent one, Ratchet, the medical autobot, and Bulkhead, the one who, on the inside, is kinda a softie, when it comes to me and my mom. He's also been my babysitter sometimes, when the others were busy.

All in all, we're one big happy family.

"LILA!!"

Well, except for the times when I pull a prank or something.

"Coming!"

I skated into my family's corner of the factory, and opened the door to the bathroom. I stifled a giggle. My mom stood there, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around her, with her hair (normally a bright red) pitch black. She did not look happy.

"Lila? What exactly did you do to my _hair_?!" her voice started out soft, then grew to a shout.

"Nothing, mom. _You_ did something to your hair. _I_ only did something to your shampoo."

Mom's eyes grew wide, then she whipped around and grabbed her shampoo bottle, then overturned it in the sink. Black hair dye came gushing out, headed for the drain.

"Lila Joy Sumdac, you tell me right now how long this will stay in my hair!"

I shifted, and looked at the floor. "Um, I didn't look too closely at the bottle, but I think it was..." I glanced up, then quickly looked back down. "...a month."

Mom put a hand over her face and groaned. Then, remarkably, she started laughing. I looked up cautiously, not sure what was going on. She looked at me and smiled.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age! Always playing pranks, getting into trouble." she ruffled her hand through my vivid red hair, which is the same color as hers. Then her smile faded. "Though it wasn't always my fault..." she stared off into space.

Finally I couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So...does this mean I'm free to go without...punishment?" She looked at me.

"Yeah, go run along." Relieved, I turned and bolted to the door.

"But first, you need to give me your key." I froze, my hand on the doorknob. I turned around and stared at my mom.

"What?! No!!" When I was six, my mom gave me her key, which lets me have access to certain places or things in the factory. It also repairs the autobots if they get damaged in battle. I'm told it once saved both my dad's and Optimus Prime's life.

Mom held her hand out without speaking. I scowled, and yanked it off my neck, handing it to her, glaring at the floor as I did so.

Her eyes softened. "Thank you, Lila. You'll get this back after a week of no pranks."

I stared at her. "What?!"

She kissed my forehead. "A week." I stood there unbelieving, then turned and stormed out the door. I went into the rec. room and sat down on the couch in front of the tv in a huff. I grabbed the remote, then started flicking through the channels super fast. I wasn't really looking for anything, it was just something to do. When I was around the 400's, Prowl came in and sat down.

"Get in trouble again?"

I scowled for an answer.

"What did you do this time?"

"Put black hair dye in mom's shampoo."

"I see." we sat there in silence for a minute, watching the channels flash by on the screen in a blur of color.

"What was your punishment?"

I turned off the tv and turned to glare at Prowl. "I got my key taken away! And I won't get it back until I go a week without any pranks!" I turned and glared at the blank tv. "It's not like they hurt anyone!"

Prowl shook his head. "You're _so_ like your mom."

"Yeah, yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

I sat there with Prowl for a while, glaring at nothing, still fuming about the indignity of my punishment. He stared at me for a few seconds, then shook his head and turned on the tv, flipping through the channels until he found the Discovery Channel. I never really understood why he liked that channel so much. There's no action!

"Lila!" I turned around, and my face broke into a huge smile.

"Daddy!" I ran and jumped into my dad's arms, and gave him a big hug.

He looked at me. "I've got a surprise for you." I felt my eyes light up with excitement, and I bounced up and down in his arms.

"What? What?" His vivid blue eyes twinkled at me. He looked around cautiously, then lowered his voice.

"You're going to try on the chain." he whispered. I gasped in delight.

"Shhh!! Your mom doesn't know about this."

"Oh. Right. Yay!" I whispered back. He set me down and took off the chain, handing it to me. "Go into that room and put it on."

I grabbed the chain and ran into the next room. I was about to put it on, but fear suddenly froze me to the spot. What if I didn't turn into a robot like my mom did? Suddenly I was terrified. But then I thought of my dad waiting outside, and I grit my teeth. Slowly, ever so slowly, I eased it onto my neck, and the smooth, cream-coloured glittering shell rested in the hollow of my throat like it was made to be there. It felt good. Then, soft ribbons of light came and flitted around me, seeming to caress my arms and my face, enveloping me in a gentle cocoon of warmth and tranquillity. Ripples of sparkles ran down my arms, and my skin seemed to shift and move, and it grew harder and lengthened out. My clothes disappeared in a flash, but hard chest plates were already underneath. I felt my hair disappear, only to be replaced with long pieces of metal that took on the appearance of pigtails. Tearing my eyes away from my hands and arms, I noticed that the ribbons of light were fading; I blinked and they were gone. Bracing myself, I turned around to look in the mirror behind me.

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_Why is she taking so long?? _Bumblebee paced back and forth, his metal feet clanging on the floor.

"Hey little buddy. Where's the chain today?" Bulkhead asked. Bumblebee jerked a thumb towards the room into which Lila had disappeared. "Lila's trying it on."

"Oh." Bulkhead sat down against the wall and watched Bee pace back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. About 2 seconds had passed when a brilliant flash of light burst out from underneath the door of the room that Lila was in. Both autobots held their breath. 2 more agonizingly slow seconds later, the doorknob slowly twisted and the door opened, and Lila stepped out. Bulkhead and Bumblebee sucked in their breath at the sight of her.

Lila had a slim, small figure with a bright yellow paint job with an intricate, pretty design all over in red. It was all made up of thin red stripes that twisted, curled, and flourished themselves on her armor. Her optics were a bright, bright blue and she had two bright red metal pigtails on the top of her head. The chain hung around her neck, and the shell dangling from it was lying softly on her chest. She saw them staring at her, and she ducked her head. If she had still been human, she would have blushed.

"Well? How do I look?" Suddenly Bumblebee swept forward and gave her a huge hug, lifting her off her feet.

"You look wonderful!" Bulkhead came forward as well, patting her on the back. While they were talking excitedly, there was a large crash behind them. Bumblebee turned around, still holding Lila, and the grin was wiped off his face.

"Uh oh," Lila whispered. In front of them stood Sari, newly dyed black hair hanging down her back in a ponytail, mouth wide open, the plate of food for Lila and Bumblebee on the floor, shattered.

"Is that...?" She whispered, not bothering to finish the sentence. Bumblebee nodded slowly. The silence that followed was agonizing.

"OHMIGOSH!" Sari screamed suddenly. She strode forward and put her hands on Lila's shoulders, looking her up and down. "Darling, you look great! Oh, you're gorgeous!" she gushed. The bots just stared with wide eyes and mouths agape. Sari shot them a withering look, then turned her attention back to her daughter.

"Oh, this pattern is something new. It's so swirly and delicate looking. Cool!" She turned to Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "Do all young bots have a pattern like this?"

Bumblebee shook his head. "Not that I know of. Although you'd be better off asking Ratchet or Optimus."

"Yeah, you're right." Sari started tracing one of the many red lines on Lila's armor.

"Uh, mom? The food?"

"Oh my goodness! You're right!" Turning, Sari ran off in search of a broom, or better yet, a mop. Lila hopped down.

"I'm gonna go find everyone else!" She ran off down the hall.

"Don't destroy anything!" Bumblebee called after her. Shaking his head, he turned to Bulkhead.

"Would you close your mouth already?" he asked, annoyed.

"Right. Sorry."

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I know this is short, but I'll update again soon. If you have any suggestions, I'll be happy to take them! Review please. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, I know this took me forever to post, and there's not much I can say that I haven't said already on my profile (which I'm going to start using for updates on what's taking me forever, when I won't be able to write, ect.). After Christmas I plan to get right back on track, but I wanted to put this chapter up now. Consider it my Christmas present for you! :) Please let me know what you think. Have a wonderful Christmas!

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I sped around the factory towards Ratchet's medical office, not bothering to slow down as I turned each corner.

"Oof!" I slowly looked up into the eyes of Optimus Prime, then ducked my head back down. Despite my mom and dad's efforts to convince me that Optimus was nice and gentle, I've always been terrified of him. He always looks so solemn, and he's super tall! I prefer Ratchet and Prowl, much to the disbelief of my parents. They don't understand how I can put up with Ratchet. I don't either, to be honest.

"Hello there," Optimus said, bending down to look at me sprawled on the floor. "And just who might you be?"

I gulped, standing up. "You know me. I'm Lila." I whispered. Optimus's eyes grew wide. I huffed. What was so surprising? He'd seen my mom in 'bot form plenty of times, what was so amazing about me?!

"Well well...I never thought Sari would consent to you trying on the chain. What convinced her?"

I shuffled my foot. "Um, we didn't. Me and daddy tried it in secret." Optimus said nothing, merely gazing at me. I stared at the ground, afraid to look at him directly.

"Something wrong, Optimus?" I jumped at the sound of Prowl's voice. Darn ninja 'bot.

"Bumblebee's finally braved Sari and given Lila the chain." Optimus's voice sounded amused.

"So I see." There was an uncomfortable silence before Prowl spoke again. " Those markings on her armor seem strangely familiar. But I can't remember why." He sounded slightly frustrated, and I giggled.

"Hmm. Perhaps Ratchet would know." Hearing that, I took my chance and bolted.

"Lila!" called Prowl and Optimus, exasperated. Reaching Ratchet's office, I yanked open the door, forgetting the pail of paint I had placed on top of it this morning. It splashed down on me, covering my new, shiny armor in sticky, wet, permanent-once-dry, blue paint. Ratchet peered around the door and saw me.

"Lila?"

"Ratchet! Help me get this off! This is _permanent_ paint!" I moaned, flapping my arms, causing blue paint to fly everywhere.

He chuckled. "It's about time you got caught in one of your own pranks." I glared at him. "Come on in and I'll clean you up in no time."

I walked in and hopped on the huge medical bed, swinging my legs back and forth as I watched Ratchet bustle around in his cabinets noisily.

He took a large pail from the top of a cabinet, looked at it for a moment, then nodded. I eyed it, not sure of what he would do. With Ratchet, you can never tell. He carried it over to another counter, blocking my view.

"Ratchet, it's drying!"

"All right, all right already!" suddenly he turned and splashed cold water on me. I froze in shock. Ratchet looked pleased with himself. I was freezing, but it had worked. The blue paint was sliding off me with the flow of the water, revealing my armor and designs. Seeing me clearly for the first time, Ratchet sucked in a sharp breath.

"Primus," he breathed. "Can it be?" I frowned and looked down at myself , seeing nothing out of the ordinary. I looked back up.

"Uh, Ratchet? Don't Autobots kinda....rust?"

Ratchet jerked back to life, and fumbled around the room, cursing. He emerged from a closet with what looked like a squirt gun, 50 times enlarged. "Close your eyes." he ordered, and turned on the squirt gun. Heat burst from the nozzle and swirled around me, drying me off in an instant. When I was throughly dry, he put it away again, securely closing the closet door behind him.

"Ratchet!" Prowl burst in the room. "Is Lila in here?" he looked around and, seeing me, sighed with relief. "I'd thought you'd run off again!" he glanced at Ratchet. "I take it you've seen her...unique design?" The medical 'bot nodded, and Prowl continued. "They seem to take on certain patterns which look oddly familiar, but I can't for the life of me figure out why. What about you? You're old and insane, you ought to know something about this." He pointed at me, ignoring Ratchet's bristling at the words 'old' and 'insane'. I stifled a giggle, but he heard, and swung to scowl at me before turning back to Prowl. He regarded him for a moment or two, then sat down heavily in his desk chair, sighing.

"Yes, I do know something about this. Those patterns you're seeing aren't a mistake. They're the symbols of the ancient Cybertronian language. A language that died out, disappeared, long before you came online. I was alive for only a few solar-cycles before it was, you could say, abandoned. I recognize the shapes, but I can scarcely remember what they mean." he fell silent, leaving me with my confused thoughts. How could a language that disappeared suddenly reappear on my Autobot form?

Suddenly, Ratchet gasped softly.

"What is it?" Prowl asked anxiously.

"It can't be," Ratchet whispered.

"What?!"

Ratchet turned to the frenzied ninja 'bot. "The meanings of the symbols have come back to me. If what they say on Lila's armor, is true, then..." he shook his head. "Lila is...supernatural. I guess you could put it that way. She has quite a destiny to fulfill. Lila was apparently chosen by unseen forces. Chosen for what, is not clear. The symbols include only three clues. 1. That a power resides within her, a power strong enough to wipe out the entire Decepticon army, or even all of what's left of Cybertron, as well as Earth and any other planet in between. A power extremely difficult to control, as it is also....given? controlled? by a different unseen force. If misused, that power could kill her. 2. That the future of the entire universe lies on her shoulders. She teeters dangerously on a thin thread. One step in either direction could mean disaster, or total peace. She will be revered by many, yet hated by thousands." Ratchet sighed, seeming to grow older before my eyes. My mind was in a whirl, unable to process fully what Ratchet was saying. "The symbols give one more clue. That the start of the countdown to either the apocalypse or the salvation of the universe begins the day she turns fifteen."


	4. Chapter 4

I know, I know, I've taken FOREVER to upload _anything_, and both of the two chapters I just uploaded hardly make up for that. But I've been working on all my stories, (so-much-rewriting-of-new-chapters!!) and even a new requested one for Crystal Persian, called Recalling Bumblebee. That will be uploaded soon as well. But I hope you enjoy what little I have for you at this moment. Sorry! Don't worry, THERE WILL BE MORE SOON. (and don't be afraid to post a review or something telling me if I'm taking too long in updating again! It's my Achilles' heel...)

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That night, I laid in bed and faked sleep as I listened to mom and daddy's anxious discussion. After Ratchet's 'revelation', he had escorted me back to our apartment. Mom had yelled and daddy had collapsed into a chair, not speaking. It was that which scared me the most. Mom yelled a lot, no matter what mood she was in. She yelled in excitement when she beat Bulkhead at a video game, she yelled in anger when she got caught in one of my pranks, she yelled with happiness when she saw me as an autobot, she yelled in frustration when daddy snuck out at night to go have some fun with his 'bot buddies. But my dad was _never_ quiet and depressed like this. Never. He was always joking around, even when mom yelled at him. Just stood there, and tried not to laugh, along with me. Which made mom yell more, but she can't stay mad long. Pretty soon he got her to smile, and then we were all in a big tickle session. But I'd never seen him like this. Afraid.

My dreams that night were filled with red, twisting lines, the chain, glittering prettily, and Ratchet's voice echoing in my head.


	5. Seven Years Later

"Lila! Get out here!"

I finished pulling my hair into two low braids and ran out to the dining room. Mom was just putting a giant apple crumble muffin with a candle in it at my place.

"Morning, daddy," I said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Happy birthday, Lila." he answered, smiling.

"Morning, mom," I hugged her, sitting down. "Yum!"

"Lila-" started my dad.

"Hurry up and eat!" Mom interrupted. "Melanie, Shiva, and Tuesday just called. Their moms will drop them off any minute now."

I smiled, thinking of my 3 best friends, all the daughters of my mom's 3 best friends. Melanie, or Mel, was Caroline's daughter, Shiva the diva was Milly's, and Tuesday, or Tu, was Nancy's. Today, my 15th birthday, we were going to the beach, _unaccompanied. _No parents. Just us.

I scarfed down my muffin, and ran out to the rec. room where all the autobots were.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILA!!" I was nearly deafened by their shouts. Smiling, I looked up at my tall-as-a-building robotic family. There was Bulkhead, beaming, Prowl, actually smiling a bit, Optimus Prime, (who I was still a little scared of) actually smiling as well, and Ratchet, looking solemn, but grimacing in an effort to smile too.

"Thanks guys!" Bulkhead held out his hand, and I climbed up.

"Look at how much she's grown," said Optimus.

"She's definitely not a sparkling anymore." Ratchet said gruffly.

"Off to the beach," added Prowl.

"Are you sure I can't come?" piped up Bulkhead sadly.

I patted his hand. "Sorry buddy, not today."

He sighed. "I know."

"Lila-" started Ratchet.

"Where's Lila?!" said a voice from around the corner.

"We'd hate for these gifts to go to waste," added another.

"Forget the gifts! We're gonna have to go to the beach by ourselves!" teased another. "Shame!"

"Tu! Shiva! Mel!" I squealed. Bulkhead put me down, and I sprinted towards the door and flung my arms around my besties. Shiva, with her short black hair framing her face and vivid green eyes, Tuesday, with her long dark brown hair pulled up into a bun and her light brown eyes, and Melanie, with her curly chestnut-brown hair in pigtails and her dark blue-green eyes. As soon as we separated, they all pushed their presents at me.

"Mine first! Open mine!"

"No, me!"

"Lila, open mine!"

"What about ours, Lila?" cried the autobots.

In the end, I had an iPhone from Shiva (bless her), a $100 gift card to American Eagle from Tuesday (after the beach, definitely), the complete "Peter and the Starcatchers" trilogy from Melanie (how'd she know?), and a red convertible Volkswagon Beetle from the 'bots (with a license plate that reads, "BOTGIRL"), on account of me having gotten my permit 2 days before.

"Thank you guys!" I hugged them all. Then, slipping my new iPhone and gift card in my pocket, we piled into my new bug.

"Wait, Lila,"

"Yes, daddy?" I got back out.

"You haven't gotten my present yet. Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

I did, and a gasp went around the room. I resisted the urge to peek. Something cold and light was placed into my hands.

"You can open your eyes now." I did, and my hand flew to my mouth. In my hand was my dad's chain.

"Just in case," he said, smiling solemnly, towering above me.

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Questions? Comments? Complaints? Requests? Review!!


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